Thursday, September 17, 2009

Yes, are you feeling fabulous, Crapulous or somewhere in between? I don’t know about where you are, but here in Oz Crappy is often used to describe not feeling very well. Now up until September 14th of this year, I had always assumed that crappy, although still not a nice word, was still a more politer form of a not so nice word, with a different original meaning (albeit slightly connected.). Not so it seems, and feeling “crappy” is really a legitimate abbreviation from the noun crapulous. Yes, according to the word of the day for September 14Th Crapulous means1. Given to or characterized by gross excess in drinking or eating.2. Suffering from or due to such excess. So again how are you feeling today? I am neither fabulous or crapulous. But okay nonetheless. And trust that you are likewise, if not fabulous. But if you are crapulous today, I hope that you will soon get over it and be well again, and that next time, you will watch you eat and drink, okay?

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

No I am not making that word up! It really does exist. And no, it has absolutely nothing to do with Hippopotamuses either. Although not a serious ailment, many people do suffer from it. I obviously I don’t, (some would say I suffer from the other extreme though!) but I do suffer from two related phobias: such as pronouncing and spelling ones like this! Yes, according to a question in the Herald Sun Quiz page on September 15, hippopotomonstroses quippedaliophobia is the “fear of long words”. As said above, I am happy to use long words once I know what they mean and thus I don’t fear them once I know how to at least pronounce them. (Just don’t ask me how long it took me to properly pronounce hyperbole!)What about you? Do you fear long words, by either skipping them or ignoring them? Or do you embrace them enough to at least find out what they mean, even if you never use them again, like I suspect with the above word? Putting this into general terms, what do you do with things that are unusual or strange to you in everyday life? Ignore them completely, work around them, embrace them or simply deal with them in the appropriate manner when they arrive and then move on? Just something simple to think on for today! Have a great one too!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

The Word of the Day for, September 10, 2009, is “noisome”. No, noisome does not mean what one would naturally thing it should. Nor is it a particularly nice thing to be called either! For Noisome means:“1. Noxious; harmful; unwholesome.2. Offensive to the smell or other senses; disgusting.” Is that how most people see you and me? Not as nice people or even as just noisy people, but as someone who is harmful and unwholesome? Offensive and disgusting to be around, even? If you struggle to keep friends, maybe, just maybe mind, and not necessarily, but maybe because you are actually “noisome” rather than “refulgent” like you may feel! So, if you struggle to be liked and to keep friends, please do not condemn the others, till you have seriously looked at yourself, to see whether you are truly refulgent or just seriously noisome. Over to you now for some self analyse while I do the same.

Friday, September 11, 2009

In my recent blog, "Are you refulgent today?" I mentioned that often, rather than being refulgent and reflecting Light back to others, we often become Black Holes and swallow all the light that comes our way with our negativity. I then went on to encourage people to be more refulgent, and to let their light shine out and reflect back on others. Now I know that we can’t always realistically do that; nor do we really want to go through life with only Rose coloured glasses. However there is still a lot of Middle Ground that we could and even should, be occupying.Again, I know we can't always look on the bright side of life, but that doesn't mean we have to always look at the negative either. As my illustration of the Glasses shows, there is often a lot of middle ground that we miss too, by arguing if a glass is half empty or half full. So today, how do you see your glass of life? As Half full or half empty? Or are you like me and just very happy to have a glass with something in it? What say you?

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Recently I asked, “Are you refulgent today?” The following is one reply I received to my/that question. “Hi: Another great one. I was sitting here feeling rotten again today and feeling sorry for myself but reading your little article made me stop and think. Instead of feeling bad I should be feeling grateful for the fact that I am alive and able to do lots of things other people are not able to do. I certainly have been guilty of feeling sorry for myself but I will try to follow your advice and think positively.Thanks: ****?Not printing this to push my own barrow, but as this example shows, we can all be refulgent without really trying, simply by communicating with people with a positive response or reaction, rather than a negative one. So today, who can you be refulgent to, even if only with e-mail or blog, if not a phone call or even better, verbally face to face?

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The Word of the Day* for September 8, 2009 was refulgent. An adjective that means: “Shining brightly; radiant; brilliant; resplendent.” Apart from the minor fact that I had never heard of the word before, I couldn’t help wonder if we, you and I, are refulgent? Or simply Black Holes that rather than reflect light to others, suck it all up and smother it? What think you?“Refulgent comes from the present participle of Latin refulgere, "to flash back, to shine brightly." Again are you and I flashing back the light that comes our way or are we killing it with our negativity and despair? If so what can you and I do to become refulgent and let our lights and our lives shine brightly if not refulgently again? For starters I think we all can be a little more positive to the negative things in life. Some people argue incessantly over whether their glass is half full or half empty, whilst others are simply glad to have a glass with something in it. Another thing we can do, is to be more appreciative of what others are trying to do for us, even if they never achieve that, or at least achieve it to our preferred standards. Talking of which, when was the last time you said thank you for anything, big or small done for you, whether it was “their Job” or not? Just something to think on for today, hey?

* Dictionary.com Word of the Day http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Ever wondered how old something is, when it is described as, “as old as Heck”? Well now you will know that the answer is/was 108 years old!! For that is how old Benedictine Father Theodore Heck was when he died on April 29th 2009. Yes, Father (John Henry) Heck, who had been the world's oldest Benedictine monk passed away at 108, in Indianapolis USA.So now you know how old heck is don’t you? Or do you? Not really for as I reported in an earlier blog (What the heck is a heck?), “Heck” apart from later referring to actual things such as a heck–gate/door etc, “heck” was simply an earlier/softer/politer way of saying “Hell” without saying hell! So all this is just a reminder not to believe every story you first hear but to always check out the true story, no matter how probable or improbable (Just as my first explanation) before you both believe and propagate these alleged Facts as the truth, just because “you heard it said somewhere!” Again today’s lesson is to make sure of your facts before passing them on as facts. Do you do that and if not, will you start doing so now?

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Received an email recently with a picture of a very tatty piece of Sandpaper. With it came the following message:“When you have to put up with mean people, think of them as sandpaper. They may scratch you; even rub you the wrong way. But eventually …You end up smooth and polished. And the sandpaper …? It’ll be worn out and ugly!Makes you think doesn’t it? Never loose sight of who you are, because you are the best thing God ever created? Embrace the gift.” Not sure one can add too much to that, as it is a very simple yet clear reminder that the things that happen in our lives shape us. Yes they do, so whether you let them shape you for good or bad is up to you.Remember, a piece of wood rubbed all over, will be smooth all over. But a piece of wood rubbed continually in the one spot, will simply be flat and worn out in that spot, making the whole product useless for its original purpose!So Keep moving with the sand paper and don’t fight against it, but allow it to smooth you all over. Again, forget the sand paper and leave it to it’s own natural end at its own devices! What say you?

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

You may know that recently, Michelle Obama went to serve food to the homeless at a government funded soup kitchen in America. I just received an email with a picture of Michelle serving two young men. One of whom was taking her picture with his mobile phone. Under the picture ran this Caption:Cost of a bowl of soup at homeless shelter : $0 dollars.Having Michelle Obama serve you your soup: $0 dollars.A homeless person receiving government funded meals, taking a picture of the first lady using his $500 Blackberry cell phone ... Priceless. Now one could perhaps argue that the phone was stolen or some such other excuse. But one still has to wonder if sometimes all of us don’t quite have our priorities right when we will put possessing possessions, (No matter how handy) over our own physical well being and health. And even if a mobile phone is seen as a necessity, is it really necessary to have a $500 one, when you can get a cheap one for under $50? What say you about Soup Kitchen economics?

About Me

Mid to late 60's, married for 45 years with 3 adult children. Spent 12 years working with an African Church, in the Xhosa homeland of Transkei, both before and after re-incorporation back into South Africa. Have been back in Oz since late 02. Since Aug 07 to Feb 2012 as Pastor of a small Independent Baptist Church.
From July 1st 2012 to May 13 briefly the "Director for Communication and Prayer Ministry" with the Slavic Gospel Association in Australia. Since then till late 2015 unemployed; and now officially retired
This Blog site is of a more general philosophical nature, than the others. For Blogs of a more christian philosophical nature, see my "Christian Ponderings" site.
The "Pacific Ponderings" Blog was designed for more personal Blogs and specifically, our South Pacific Cruise.